How Did The Constitution Influence The Power Of Government

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The constitution is a system of laws which is governed. Our constitution set up the government, and we use the same constitution today, with some additions. Precedents, time, and additions have changed American government. However, first, the founders had to debate on what a president entailed, how far their power was to go, and how many people would make up the president's role. Not all delegates favored a single president with a lot of power, due to kings and monarchs of the past. However it was determined that a single head in charge would be able to make quick decisions opposed to the debating that would occur within a council. Article 2 of the Constitution gave executive power to a single president as long as precautions and checks were …show more content…

Presidents could not do too much for the public, nor did they have the power or precedent to do so. Most of all decisions ran through congress. It was not until Franklin Roosevelt took office and created many programs, that the modern president took shape.These programs directly intervened with the challenges faced by many people during the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt new policies included the “New Deal” which gave the president the power to emplace executive order, leading to the beginning of increased executive power. The programs that Franklin Roosevelt created the ability for government to affect citizens economic life, whether it was using tax money to create the Social Security act, or to try to stabilize the banks with the “Emergency Banking act.” These new programs challenged the existing power between the congress and the president, and eventually gave more power to the president. The programs also enlarged the government substantially. Today, more and more frequently, the presidents are using this executive order to get things done without congress intervention. This is a prime example of a power shift from the legislative to the executive branch. The constitution enacted hundreds of years ago, along with some additions and precedents have set up the government we know

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